The enormous development of street and highway traffic results in a steadily growing number of traffic accidents. These accidents bring about great material losses and, more importantly, are incommensurable in relation to human losses; loss of life, or permanent invalidism. The safety of traffic on the highways and streets depends to a considerable degree on the fact that a driver, to succeed in certain traffic situation must react in a proper way and sufficiently fast. The psychology of street and highway traffic tries to explain these problems. The subject of its investigation is a detailed analysis of the driver's work in order to establish psycho-physiological functions, indispensable for its safe execution. The driver's work has a specific character. In addition to some acquired information, training and possession of driving competence, the driver is also required to possess a particular psycho-physiological competence, considering the dynamics of the driver vehicle, and the human life and health hazards connected therewith.
Among the great number of drivers traveling on the streets and highways, there are some who often do not realize they have certain psycho-physiological deficiencies. This is why a necessity arises for controlling psycho-physiological characteristics of drivers before their licensing, and during their execution of work, as concerns changes, or disappearance of psycho-physiological competence.
The proper evaluation of psycho-physiological characteristics of a driver can be made only by using certain equipments, specialized and adapted for this aim. One such which so serves is my present invention. With the help of this equipment it will be possible to test the competence of evaluating speed, which is based on a psychical attribute, that is, the ability of perceiving motion.
The equipment of this invention together with other testing apparatus establishes methods of psychological tests for drivers of all kinds of motor vehicles. These tests have as an aim the reduction of the number of road and street traffic accidents which will contribute to the improvement of traffic safety on the roads.